Meta

Posts Tagged ‘Archaeology’

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest narrative works known to man, dating back to as early as 2100BC and the Third Dynasty of Ur, in Mesopotamia. It tells the story of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, who became his friend.

The Epic was rediscovered in 1853, in he palace library of Ashurbanipal, a 7th century BC king of Assyria, though there are still missing fragments of the tale.

The recent invasion of Iraq, and the looting that followed, saw a cuneiform clay tablet turn up for sale at the Sulaymaniah Museum in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where it was purchased for $800. The tablet was a fragment of Tablet V of the Epic of Gilgamesh and contained 20 lines never seen before of the Epic.

It is cool to think that even after all this time we can discover new storied from the past and that there might be more out there, hidden under sands or lost in jungles, as long as they aren’t destroyed first.

Following the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, the decisive battle at the end of the War of the Roses beyween the houses of Lancaster and York, in which he was slain, his body was buried at Greyfriars Church, and then subsequently lost to history, until last year. DNA tests on a descendent of his sister have now proven the skeleton as being that of Richard III.

Here is one for Indiana Jones – the tomb of the first Chinese Emperor, Quin Shi Huang. His tomb is reported to be filled with treasure – and booby traps to keep looters of bay. Which causes a problem for any archaeologists wanting to have a look in it. Unless they are Doctor Jones.